News / Analysis
America’s quest for homeland security includes the development of federal programs to protect our aviation, maritime and ground transportation sectors, efforts to detect a “dirty bomb” before it can emit deadly radiation, the search by the FBI for Muslim terrorists and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, his Al Qaeda followers and Islamic extremists pursuing jihad.
San Diego computer hacker sentenced to five years in slammer
June 12th, 2008
A network engineer and technical services manager for a non-profit organization in San Diego, CA, which provides computer support services to local area health clinics, has been sentenced to more than five years in prison on federal computer hacking charges in what the prosecuting attorney called "one of the longest sentences imposed for computer hacking in the United States."
"Visa Waiver" program in name only
June 12th, 2008
Residents of approximately 28 countries participating in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, who do not need to obtain a formal visa to visit the U.S. for up to 90 days, will soon be required to submit online their detailed biographic information to Customs and Border Protection before they travel to the U.S., so CBP can perform background checks on them
Assembling a mosaic: Three Federal Register notices from TSA
June 9th, 2008
Sometimes, the juiciest bits of information about the U.S. Government’s future plans for homeland security can be found buried in innocuous-looking notices published in the Federal Register.
Such was the case last Friday, when TSA published three short announcements that provide interesting windows into its latest thinking.
Predator B to expand its maritime surveillance role
June 2nd, 2008
The Predator B unmanned aircraft, which is already being used over Iraq, Afghanistan and the U.S.-Mexican border, may soon begin flying over the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and the Great Lakes to enhance the surveillance of the maritime borders of the U.S.
GAO warns unmanned planes pose security problems
June 1st, 2008
A report issued by the Government Accountability Office found that growing government and private sector interest in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) is posing unique challenges to the nation’s aviation security posture. The agency urged the Federal Aviation Administration to develop new regulations to govern unmanned flights, which are now approved on a case-by-case basis. The Department of Homeland Security "has not addressed the national security implications of routine UAS access to the airspace," the GAO reported, adding that with the growing number of government agency and private sector players, the need for effective UAS regulation is becoming urgent. The FAA estimates that completing UAS safety regulations will take 10 or more years, but has not yet issued its program plan to communicate the steps and time frames required to provide routine UAS access.
More…
Relieving traffic congestion at U.S. borders
June 1st, 2008
The pendulum at the U.S. southern and northern borders seems to swing regularly between tightening restrictions on vehicular and pedestrian border crossers in order to enhance security and loosening restrictions on the same border crossers in order to speed the flow of legitimate trade.
GSN is on the move!
May 30th, 2008
GSN is on the move!
We’ve just relocated our corporate offices to new digs in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan.
Here’s our new address:
233 Spring Street
3rd floor
New York, NY 10013
Phone: 212-344-0759
If you want to reach us regarding editorial, sales, production, bookkeeping or any other matter, please use the address above, beginning immediately.
If you’re heading to New York City and would like to stop in and say hello – and savor one of Manhattan’s most interesting neighborhoods – please contact Jacob Goodwin, our Editor-in-Chief, at , or our Publisher, Ed Tyler, at .
We’ll be pleased to welcome you to our new headquarters!
FCC is re-thinking its 700 MHz public safety network strategy
May 30th, 2008
It’s back to the drawing boards for the Federal Communications Commission, which tried and failed earlier this year to garner more than $1.33 billion in total bids for licenses to implement a nationwide public safety communications network in the 700 MHz band.
